Vicksburg High and Warren Central are staying put in the latest round of realignment by the Mississippi High School Activities Association, but the scenery around them is changing a bit.

Although both teams are staying in their current classifications and regions in most sports, changes in enrollment at other schools led the MHSAA to adjust the region lineups. The MHSAA realigns its classifications and regions every two years based on enrollment figures from the Mississippi Department of Education. The 32 largest schools are classified as Class 6A, the next 32 are classified as Class 5A, and Classes 1A through 4A are divided up proportionally.

Vicksburg is in Class 5A, and Warren Central in 6A.

Vicksburg will remain in Region 2-5A for football and Region 4-5A for most other sports, but will get some new league rivals. Callaway and Cleveland will move into Region 2-5A for football, replacing Lanier and Grenada.

The other teams in the new Region 2-5A are Holmes County Central, Neshoba Central, Ridgeland, Germantown and Canton. All are currently in the region.

Vicksburg football coach Marcus Rogers said the new additions will make the region schedule a lot more difficult. Callaway is coming off a seven-win season, while Lanier went winless and has lost 18 consecutive games. Cleveland was just 6-6 but is merging with East Side High School, which went 12-2.

“I think it makes it harder because Callaway usually has some D-I players and they are much better than Lanier traditionally. And Cleveland, somebody just fell into a gem. Cleveland is going to bring the trenches and East Side is going to bring some good skill players when they come together next year,” Rogers said. “I don’t think it’s going to be easy at all.”

In basketball, soccer, baseball and fast-pitch softball Vicksburg will be paired with Callaway, Germantown and Ridgeland. Callaway and Germantown replace Lanier and Neshoba Central. Lanier moved down to Class 4A, while Neshoba Central is switching regions to 3-5A.

The new alignment reduces travel. Germantown is only about an hour from Vicksburg, while Neshoba Central is a 2 ½-hour drive. Callaway and Ridgeland are both less than an hour from Vicksburg.

“It’s going to be great. Last year we went to Neshoba twice on Tuesday night, on a school night. This year they’ll do the same. From a travel standpoint, it’s great. It’s as good as it gets. Nobody is going to have to travel much,” Vicksburg baseball coach Derrick DeWald said.

Warren Central has long been paired with the same football teams in Region 2-6A and Greenville, Clinton and a rotating Jackson school in other sports, and that hasn’t changed. The only adjustment in the football region is Provine subbing in for Callaway as the former moves up from Class 5A and the latter moves down.

In the other sports, Provine will replace Murrah in Region 4-6A and compete along with Warren Central, Greenville and Clinton.

The biggest change in the MHSAA’s reclassification scheme is in slow-pitch softball. Declining participation, a trend toward emphasizing fast-pitch, and school consolidation have whittled down the number of schools that play the sport in recent years.

Several years ago, the MHSAA consolidated Class 5A and 6A into one group. This time around, they’ve gone a step further to follow the model of other sports with limited participation such as girls’ golf, volleyball and swimming.

Starting in 2017, slow-pitch softball will have three classifications — Class I, Class II and Class III — with schools classified as 5A and 6A for other sports competing in Class III.

Vicksburg and Warren Central will compete in Class III, Region 6 along with Provine and Clinton.

“The good thing is that we are still having slow-pitch for at least the next two seasons. They have been talking about doing away with it since I started coaching in 2000, but I think it may become a reality in the next few years,” Warren Central softball coach Dana McGivney said. “I enjoy slow-pitch because it’s more laid back than fast-pitch, but it still teaches the players the fundamentals and it gives them game experience.”